Activity 1: Understanding the Gender Divide in Care
Aim of Activity:
To encourage participants to reflect on how unpaid and paid care responsibilities are distributed across genders and how intersectional factors (age, migration, socio-economic status) shape caregiving experiences.
Steps (Prompt Questions/Scenario):
- Facilitator asks: “What is your understanding of the gender divide in care? Do you think everyone is affected the same way by the care divide?”
- Participants spend 3–5 minutes writing down their individual thoughts.
- In small groups (3-4 participants), participants share reflections and discuss differences in experiences based on gender, age, socio-economic background, and migration status.
- Each group presents 1–2 key insights to the whole group.
Links/ Resources:
- Reflection sheets or notepads for individual notes.
- Optional flipchart or whiteboard to summarise group insights.
Activity 2: Balancing Career and Care: The Interview Scenario
Aim of Activity:
To demonstrate how gender stereotypes, conscious and unconscious bias and societal expectations influence workplace decisions regarding employees with caregiving responsibilities.
Steps (Prompt Questions/Scenario):
- Scenario: A woman in her 30s applies for a job. She has an excellent CV but discloses that she is caring for her chronically ill father. Her brother and partner are unavailable. She expresses commitment to the role but may need flexibility.
- Divide participants into groups of 3–4 and assign roles: Employer, Candidate, Observers.
- Conduct a mock interview for 5–7 minutes.
- Observers note potential conscious or unconscious biases (e.g., questioning reliability, assuming caregiving is incompatible with career).
- Group discussion using prompts:
- How do gender stereotypes influence assumptions about caregiving responsibilities?
- What conscious or unconscious biases might affect hiring decisions?
- How could the workplace support this candidate while valuing her caregiving role?
- How might colleagues react, and how could workplace culture be changed to reduce stigma and bias?
Linked Resources:
- Role cards for Employer, Candidate, Observer
- Observation sheets for noting bias instances
- Optional empathy map template
- Reflection sheets / notepads for personal notes
- Optional: Flipchart or whiteboard to summarise group insights